Pertronix or Magna Spark

[Shane Tuttle]

In my humble opinion:

Yep, there are some salty guys on here. Yep, providing a link to use the 'Search' function may not have been helpful. But most of us have been on this planet for nearly 50 years, spanning when aircooled VWs were the mainstay of transportation. As many have their own opinions of what works and what doesn't, they've just about seen it all in regards to solutions to problems such as yours. To top it off, most of us have some pretty thick skin and our way of dealing with a pretty commonly seen subject is to be pretty snarky. I'm not saying it's right or to justify perceived behavior behind a keyboard.

On the same token, we're all just trying to provide you the right answer; not the answer you want to necessarily hear. After you received the most likely culprit of your starting issue, you still asked for input on replacing a part that you thought was the problem (which probably isn't). That seemed to send some mixed signals. Were you wanting to replace your distributor for other reasons? Were you not accepting the diagnosis from those that have worked on VWs for decades? I honestly don't know. But I think if you took a step back and walked in other members' shoes that have responded for a minute, you might see why there was a little flak sent back at you. Again, I'm not saying there was no wrongdoing on either party.

Bottom line: Separate the wheat from the chaff. Those that are digging under your skin are also providing solid advice whether you asked for it or not. Acknowledge that instead of how you feel you're treated. Discuss why you have that exhaust and the rocker ratio. Tell us the purpose of your setup and what you should do to correct it, if it needs correcting. They're offering their opinions so you're not going to be sorry in the long run on having to prematurely tear down your engine, not to be self righteous and pick on you.

Whatever the case, I agree with the lack of fuel in the float bowl and modify your startup procedure before changing parts. If you want another distributor just to have another one, I'm old school. I prefer staying away from the electronic stuff. I just bought a restored 010 from Glenn for my 2110cc.

Take my advice for what it's worth. If you weigh others' opinions based on post count, then don't listen to me. But we are all here to help each other. I hope you eventually see that if nothing else.

[Paul Jr]

[Tom snowden]

Bravo Shane!!, well said. Or should I say written?

[Skidmark 1]

The reason that I was enquiring about a different distributer set up was to find out if some of the starting issues might have been down to poor spark when turning over and if anyone had come across this situation, I have seen a video showing how well the Magna spark 2 produces a good spark at low rpm as it uses a coil pack and not a standard coil.

I accept the fact that I had not thought about the fuel levels in the float bowls being low after being stood for a week and not allowing the electronic fuel pump to fill them up before attempting to start, if using a mechanical fuel pump would it not take more cranking over to fill the bowls prior to starting.

I know there are keyboard warriors on all sites that love to put in their comments to see what comments they can get from their sometimes off the topic answers, to these people I usually say if you don't have anything useful to say the don't comment.

[Shane Tuttle]

When I was into the daily life of VWs (80s-90s), a Bosch 009, Bosch wires, and Blue Coil, was THE setup for street use. We were kicking 010 distributors to the curb. I never had a spark issue with said setup.

Fast forward to now: Seems like new 009s are all from China, now, and has tainted the original 009 reputation. Many have gone back to the 010. Why? My take is there was never anything wrong with the 010. I was recently educated on the solid attributes of its performance. That's why I dumped almost $500 into having one restored....with points, condenser, etc. instead of going electronic. If you're looking for tried and true, go back to what has worked since almost the very beginning of the Beetle's existence.

[oprn]

[Glenn]

[oprn]

Did you ever get your hard starting problem sorted out?

I thought of you yesterday. My Manx clone has been in the hay shed since the last week of August and I needed to move it to get the sand rail out. I must confess that I forgot to take the battery out and bring it inside for storage/charging and I never use fuel stabilizer - so will it start? It's been between -18 and -26 for 2 weeks now, yesterday was a high of -14.

Turned the key on to let the electric pump top up the carbs, reached in and pushed the gas peddle down 3 times to prime the engine, pulled the chokes on and hit the starter. It turned over about 6 turns and was running. That was without getting in the car and gas that some here would say is too stale to be useable.

That is how an air cooled VW with dual Webers starts in the dead of winter after sitting for 5 months.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[APPLEGREENVW]